Of Freaks and Monsters
by Slightly Dazed Bystander
Summary: A school of magic, a demon hunting teacher and six monstrous girls at a human school. In a social experiment, six non-human schoolgirls are given the historic opportunity to attend a human high school. Its a ticket out of poverty and towards recognition for their kind, but prejudices run deep and each of the girls have their issues. Can they overcome the odds and triumph?
1. Meet the Teacher

Meet The Teacher.

Tod stared up in terror at the monstrosity in front of him.

It had to be at least four stories high. Monstrously fat, the demon's black eyes were fixed ravenously on the helpless boy before it. Countless pointed teeth opened inside a lipless mouth, revealing the forked tongue that dwelt within. As the demon licked the jagged edges of its mouth Tod couldn't help but stare into its maw. Foul slime glistened on its red, veiny skin, the colour of ochre clay.

Atop its head three crests of reddened skin slowly moulted, just barely showing the points of three cruel, twisting horns. They were tall enough to impale a bus.

It advanced on Tod. He'd twisted his ankle trying to flee from the beast. Now he could only watch in terror as terrible hooked feet strode lazily towards him. It slowly uncurled two massive, oversized fists, cruel claws extending out slowly from its squat, malformed fingers.

He tried to scream, but he couldn't. Tod's voice caught in his mouth. As the monster reached down to pick him up, he closed his eyes and prepared to meet the Gods…

 _Thump._

Then suddenly he was rolling away across the ground. To safety.

He had rolled… no, something had pushed him, out of the way of the monster. Strangely unhurt, Tod landed harmlessly on his front, his head turned away from the monster.

Starting, he jumped to his feet…

...only to promptly collapse with a scream as he forgot about his twisted ankle.

As Tod lay there on the floor, panic began to overwhelm him. The beast would surely be upon him soon. Trembling in fear and pain he managed to steal a glance towards his assailant.

Surely this was the end!

It wasn't. The demon had taken a confused step back.

It was staring at its hand, a pained, confused look evident upon its monstrous features. As dark red blood began to flow from between its massive fingers, droplets large enough to create puddles, it turned its shocked attention towards…

…a lone woman?

There was nothing about this woman's appearance to suggest she was anything extraordinary. She was wearing a smart blue jacket and mauve skirt, which was all Tod could make out from this angle. Black, wavy hair poured down her back, which was probably her most striking characteristic.

Her most striking characteristic, perhaps, except for the massive steel lance she wielded like a sword.

This lance wasn't normal. It was more like an incredibly long sword that's point carried on for way longer than was practical. Even Tod could see it wasn't a duelling weapon. This… lance… sword… whatever it was, it wasn't meant for fighting other weapons. It had a more specific purpose. The flat, double sided blade curved inwards, holding an edge for what had to be a good six feet before extending into a point that must have continued for another three. There wasn't anything more elaborate to its design and it was obviously built with a specific practicality in mind.

The demon seemed to be nursing its hand, cradling its great claw like an injured child. As blood trickled out from its fingers, Tod stared in disbelief.

Then, slowly, terribly, the monster turned away from its injury.

Pain turned to fury as it bore down on the lonely figure.

Tod stared on helplessly at what had to be this heroine's last moments. Before the monster could make another move however, she extended her fingers...

The demon screamed, a hideous guttural wail that could be heard across the city. It reeled back, shrieking as it covered its eyes.

Tod ducked his head and covered his ears, shaking even more than the earth beneath him.

It was understandable that he lost track of his surroundings for a while.

* * *

Yukari Tanizaki charged.

She had no particular plan, other than to get higher. An ogre was a danger to the entire neighbourhood. These monsters were ravenous, gorging their relentless appetite with hundreds of pounds of meat before retiring to their own hellish dimension. The boy she'd saved had only been an appetiser, a warm-up for the rampage to come.

If she didn't kill it now, hundreds of people might die before help could arrive.

Yukari threw herself up as high as she could. Yelling, she stabbed her lance as far into the ogre's leg as it would go. Viscous blood was soon running down the blade of the lance.

The ogre screamed in agony. Moaning in pain, forced away from its blinded eyes to the searing pain in its leg, it lifted its violated limb up off the ground.

It took its assailant into the air with it. Yukari clung on for dear life, fighting to stay conscious as she was shaken to the core by the sheer volume of her foe's cries.

The beast stumbled around and tried to shake the foreign object clear, but all that achieved was a deeper wound. After its fruitless and self-destructive struggle it reached down and tried to pull the cruelly barbed weapon out.

That was Yukari's opening. Unsheathing a knife, she swung herself down the lance and plunged the weapon into the ogre's hand.

The demon roared. Panicking internally, Yukari felt herself being lifted skywards, her arms wrenched painfully by her own weight. As she swung upwards she braced herself to let go before the ogre threw her into the ground… only to keep going upwards.

The ogre had thrown her clear into the sky!

Calling on her training, Yukari quickly orientated herself in the sky. Flipping her body one hundred and eighty degrees around, she righted herself in the air. She scanned the world as it rushed up towards her, trying to judge where she would land… and whether or not it was safe to do so.

By sheer luck the ogre had thrown her directly above its head. Yukari grinned internally, though her stunned face hadn't quite caught up yet.

She projected air magic, pushing herself sideways to avoid an incoming claw. Pushing herself back with the same magic to slow her impact, she braced for impact…

 _Thump!_ She was on the beast's head, positioned perfectly between the three horns. As the monster groaned from the impact and prepared to swat the murderous fly off, Yukari drew her magnum.

This was a good gun. .50 calibre bullets coated in deadly neurotoxin with enough punch to dent an armoured car. As the monster raised its fist, Yukari wrapped her legs around a horn. With her hands free, she braced for the recoil.

Yukari delivered three point blank shots directly into the ogre's skull.

The monster howled and furiously pounded its own head. Its own natural defences worked against it however and instead of crushing Yukari it impaled its hands repeatedly upon its own horns. This only caused it to scream louder and it shook itself wildly, blinded by agony and, now, fear.

Yukari winced and clung on for dear life, her legs screaming under the effort of clinging onto the flailing colossus. A horn cracked... the bones wouldn't protect her for much longer!

Time… she needed time. The neurotoxin had to do its work…

Slowly, it did. The monster's flailing weakened. Blood loss and the fast-acting, paralysing poison began to take their toll.

Eventually, its arms dropped to its side… and it began to stumble.

Sideways. Towards the houses.

That wouldn't do at all.

* * *

Tod looked on in utter astonishment as he saw this woman, this strange knight in smart, azure armour, grasp the demon firmly by the horns. Despite her tiny frame, she seemed to weigh the demon down, as if she'd gained five hundred pounds in a moment. Tod watched in astonishment as she leaned forward and pulled the monster down…

…down towards him.

 _Oh crap._

Tod screamed at the top of his lungs and waited to be crushed to death.

Instead, he was covered in dust and physically flung a foot into the air as the monster's massive shoulder landed centimetres away from him. Vaguely, he registered an angry scream and the sound of someone being deposited onto the ground by the impact.

The dust settled...

For a full ten seconds he lay there, not moving a muscle.

Slowly, some small resemblance of consciousness returned.

As Tod's mind began to process what had just happened to him, he rolled over.

He'd almost been killed by a thirty-foot tall monstrosity. Said monstrosity had just fallen, almost crushing him in the process. The woman who was responsible for that had…

 _Oh Gods. Is she ok?_

Tod leapt heroically to his feet… and had to hold back a scream as he jumped on his ankle for the second time that day.

This time, he steadied himself, biting his lip as the pain climaxed. He had to force himself to act. If she died and there was something he could have done...

Grimly, Tod used the demon's sweating, stinking corpse as his support, shuddering as he worked his way round its enormous head. Blankly, he registered that this thing had been seconds from murdering him a… minute? Hour? Some time ago. Tod numbly looked at his watch.

7:54. He wasn't even late for school yet. The whole debacle had taken less than five minutes. That included time spent running away, twisting his ankle and being stalked. His saviour's entrance must have concluded in under a minute.

Shaking violently, Tod worked the rest of the way round the monster's head. He was almost in sight of where the woman surely lay.

Then he hesitated.

Was she still alive? Could she be alive? She'd just fallen thirty feet. Tod could barely breathe as he finally stepped round the monster and the rest of the street came into view.

Nothing. No one was there. Tod numbly registered that the woman who had saved his life had already departed in the time it had taken him to work up the courage to reveal himself. It wasn't a good feeling.

Who was she? Would he see her again? It was his first day of high school. As Tod gingerly tested his ankle and began to stumble towards his bike, he swore he would not rest until he found that woman and th-

…

Where was his bike?

Crumpled on the ground was a small paper note. As Tod limped over to it, his muscles tightened in fear and dread. Could this be a ransom note? Had the dark ones abducted his saviour, demanding he feed them a thousand innocent souls in exchange for her life? This was the beginning of his epic test, the rise of the great hero Tojo Ibarazaki! He opened the note with shaking hands.

" _Late for school, borrowed bike. Ieyasu High, go there for pick up. Monster-related experiences on the way to school do not excuse you from class. Tanizaki Yukari._

Tod swore he would not rest until he found that woman and made her pay.

His ankle hurt...

* * *

Yukari Tanizaki stumbled into the tenth grade hallways.

She'd made it. On time. Without anyone noticing she was out of breath. Good.

The bloodstains that caked her jacket and blouse weren't ideal, but striking terror into the hearts of your students was a useful classroom management technique. It was one thing to talk about being a famous demon hunter, another to have fresh evidence

As Yukari composed herself, she considered that she should probably have waited for the clean-up crews, or at least the second responders, before leaving the scene of a demonic incursion. She also probably shouldn't have stolen her student's bike. Oh well, there wasn't much chance of him being in her class anyway. He was an eleventh grader, right?

Yukari straightened herself up and marched down the hall, sliding naturally into teacher mode. She mentally rehearsed the words she'd prepared in her head, knowing that this first impression would set the tone for the rest of the year. This class was a special class and Yukari knew there would be a lot of tension so it was very important to get things off on the right-

-oh Gods, why was there an elementary school student running down the hall towards her? Why was she crying? And why, why caffeine-depriving God, why was she screaming about a fight in class three?

Yukari's class. As the girl inevitably beelined towards the only authority figure in sight, Yukari lifted her fingers to her temple and tried to block out all the different, colourful waves of red-hot, seething anger. Anger at her life, the world and all of the Gods fluffy cute creatures.

It was going to be a long first day. Why couldn't Nyamo have gotten the little monsters? The literal little monsters...


	2. Meet the Class

Meet the Class

After some effort Yukari managed to look less like a bomb about to go off and more generally angry at life in general. It was only a mild improvement, but it would have to do under the circumstances.

She wasn't naïve. She'd been expecting trouble. She'd maybe even been expecting a fight. However, she'd expected that fight to have the decency to wait until break time. Apparently the new mixed class couldn't even tolerate each other for that long. It wasn't a good omen.

Her carefully planned orientation went out the window. It was improv from here on out. Yukari forced her hand away from her face and made herself confront the situation.

The crying wasn't going away. That had to change soon or she was going to have an aneurism. Yukari folded her arms and put on her best winning smile, but it came out as more of a stern frown. There were many, many good reasons why Yukari didn't teach elementary school. The national education budget couldn't afford the counselling fees, for one.

The crying little girl approached, quieting down slightly in relief as she saw an authority figure. It was to be short-lived.

"Miss, miss, there's a fight in-"

She saw her teacher's steely expression. Her voice dried up.

The girl was adorable, even by elementary school standards. Two teardrop-shaped pigtails sprung from a shock of almost ginger hair. It was well-parted above two great big shining eyes, a cute little nose and a frightened little mouth. The way that mouth curled up in fright was to make the viewer feel like they'd hurt a puppy.

She was certainly giving Yukari a big enough puppy-dog look at the moment. Perhaps the most impressive thing was that it was completely unintentional. She really was that cute when upset.

This little girl would have melted the heart of a demon and a sociopath's love child. Yukari's heart, of course, remained as stony as ever. She was tougher than the afore-mentioned son of darkness; she'd killed him before. He'd gone by Yoshi; Damien was so 1976 apparently.

From a distance, the girl looked mostly normal. What stood out from far away was the fact she was wearing a heavy overcoat despite being indoors. It was a relatively warm April day; the Japanese school year had only just started. She should have been sweltering, yet there wasn't a drop of sweat on her skin despite her unsuitable clothing.

Her skin was also impossibly pale. Almost albino, despite the natural colour of her hair. It was as if she had never seen the sun, let alone set foot under it. It was almost disturbing, but this was a common enough sight to Yukari. She was more bothered by the way it clashed with her hair.

What stood out for Yukari was the girl's eyes.

They were _gold_. Brilliant, lustrous gold. Gold was definitely not a natural eye colour for humans, and it announced her non-human status like a herald. They were striking, and instantly clashed with her otherwise cute demeanour. The more susceptible individual could probably get lost in them. The fact that they were so big didn't help.

The girl continued to stare up at Yukari and Yukari stared right back. They were akin to a startled deer and a truck.

Yukari sensed that this interaction was going nowhere. She had the information she needed and was about to move towards the developing crisis. Enough time had been wasted.

Then, to her surprise, the girl composed herself and opened her mouth.

As she did so, she revealed two cute little fangs. Yukari might have taken some interest in the implements had she not been too impressed by the girl speaking at all. Despite present circumstances her expression softened a little. Not enough to actually smile, but enough to look bored instead of angry.

The girl's voice came out firm and strong.

"Miss, there's been a fight in-"

Then she saw the bloodstains.

"…is that?..."

Ah, that could take some explaining. The girl's eyes had dilated visibly with shock. Yukari watched in idle curiosity as she slowly lifted a shaking finger.

She pointed to one of the many dark red patches on her… was this her homeroom teacher?... this terrifying stranger's jacket. As she touched it, she drew back with a yelp and looked up at Yukari in stunned silence.

A dozen scared explanations were clearly on their way through her mind, each more sinister than the last. Just what kind of hellish corner of the universe had she stumbled into? Why were the classrooms full of angry giants? Did or did not the homeroom teacher double as a mystery-meat woman? Was her butcher's shop on the gluttonous or rage-filled level of the underworld? Did they do deliveries or did you have to pick it up yourself?

Did that shop specialise in vampire and if so, what was her policy on kids? _This was critical information right now!_

As impressed as she was by her young student's ability to absorb these terrifyingly urgent questions, Yukari couldn't help but prod her over the edge.

"Don't worry, it's not my blood."

Yukari said this with such impassiveness she might have been talking about the weather. As for the vampire, she was now switching rapidly from staring at the bloodstains, to staring at Yukari, to staring at the bloodstains again.

Judging from the stunned expression on her face, something seemed to have short-circuited within her head.

Sure enough…

 ***WHUMP!***

Yukari sighed as Chiyo Mihama passed out sideways onto the floor. She'd managed to make one of her students faint and she hadn't even entered the classroom yet. Normally that took at least a term.

Chiyo had at least had the decency to conveniently fall straight into the recovery position. That saved some time at least. Without missing a beat Yukari stepped over her passed out student. Chiyo would be fine. Probably. Yukari was sure she'd do better next time. It would build character. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Other clichés…

She strode towards the door. A fight was unfolding and that was bad enough. With non-human children things could be getting very ugly in there. Yukari had to act now.

She reached for the door handle of class 1-3.

 _Go in fast and lou-_

 ***WHAM***

Yukari was thrown from her feet as the door handle hit her hard in the stomach. She landed painfully on her back with a growl… or what would have been a growl if the blow hadn't winded her. As it was it was more of a pathetic wheeze.

Yukari was not the kind of person who took getting knocked down lightly. She killed demons at night, taught high schoolers by day and was hard pressed to say which was the more harrowing. She launched herself into the sitting position, eyes alight with fury.

The expression on her face carried the promise of instant doom for the next eternally-disappointing idiot she encountered. Whoever opened that door was…

…running as fast as they could in the opposite direction?

Yukari watched helplessly as what appeared to be a large wolf bounded down the corridor and rounded a corner. Trails of shredded clothing colourfully littered the ground behind her and it didn't take too much time to guess why it, or rather _she,_ had fled the classroom. As Yukari saw the last piece of a skirt detach and fling itself unceremoniously into a corner, she made a mental note to retrieve one of the school's many spare uniforms after homeroom.

Her mind updated her with the latest on the swiftly deteriorating situation. Chiyo Mihama was unconscious from shock and Koyomi Mizuhara had treated every man and gay woman in the classroom to a humiliating strip tease. Though they'd probably been too terrified of the exotic, bestial element to enjoy it properly. It would be days before she entered a classroom without blushes and catcalls.

Today was off to a fantastic start!

The worst part was there was no time to attend to either of these crises because the source of them was still unfolding inside the classroom… which Yukari still hadn't managed to gain access to. She picked herself up and this time, instead of launching herself into the unknown, listened for a second at the door. She wasn't going to die of a ruptured organ via door trauma.

Shouting. Two girls, clearly having a bitter argument. No screams of pain or alarmed cries, so any physical violence had either never started or had stopped by itself.

That was good. At least no one was leaving in a stretcher. If someone had been badly hurt there would have been dead silence or tears.

Now to keep it that way. Without hesitating another moment, Miss Tanizaki threw open the door.

" _ **What the hell is going on in here?!"**_

Yukari's voice instantaneously filled the entire room, reaching every corner, every ear and every turned head. It was the kind of voice Yukari used only in an emergency; the kind of voice which drowned out all other crises and instantly fixated all attention on her.

Its results were immediate. Eighteen pairs of stunned eyes turned to face the live grenade that had thrown itself into the classroom with them.

Yukari could see the abnormality of what had just happened sink into every boy and girl assembled. Everyone knew there would be consequences now. Discipline and decorum re-established themselves in a moment, and Yukari even registered the sound of one girl breaking into tears.

 _Excellent. Still got it after the long holidays._

That short sharp shock would only bring a respite. The class would quickly get over their initial shock and start arguing again. That would set the tone for the entire term and then, the entire year. She had to act, but acting rashly would just embroil her in the fight.

With the class at attention, Yukari tensely scanned the room, taking in every detail. It wasn't a pretty picture.

Two human school girls stood at the centre of the furore, both visibly seething with anger.

A girl with black pigtails and a girl with short, spiky hair that almost made her look boyish. The spiky-haired girl looked scared, though she was still red in the face from what had obviously been blind rage earlier. She didn't look like the kind of girl who was used to getting into trouble regularly.

Pig-tails, for her part, was still stealing rapid glares at the object of her anger even if she too was visibly intimidated. Yukari could also see the swollen beginnings of a black eye on her face. That would warrant immediate investigation.

A further look around the classroom rapidly assembled pieces of the puzzle. A girl with shoulder-length black hair stood at the front of the classroom. Her hair was parted by two large feline ears and she had a fur-lined arm clutched to her cheek. A long black tail extended out from under her skirt, rising high enough to reach her ears. Not particularly remarkable then, for a cat.

What was remarkable, and what made her stand out, was the fierce expression on her face.

Yukari could almost feel the waves of anger and humiliation emanating from this girl. She was obviously making an effort to hide it behind an all-business expression, but the narrowed eyes and taut mouth gave her true feelings away. This was an outraged and intensely angry young woman.

Aside from anything else, she couldn't control the shaking, though she was clearly giving it a damn good try.

The source of the outrage was obvious. Beneath her hand a nasty black complexion was obviously forming on her cheek. Someone had slapped her, and hard, just a few minutes ago.

Yukari felt black anger seethe up inside her.

Whoever had done that was the world's biggest coward. Cats were not allowed to fight back. If this girl had tried, she could be facing a lifetime of hard labour. Hopefully she'd stayed her hand and literally turned the other cheek.

Thankfully this girl seemed to have an extraordinary amount of self-control. If she was afraid of Yukari then she certainly didn't show it. In fact, she appeared to be sizing her teacher up. Given the titanic power difference between them, both from their stations and their species, Yukari couldn't help but be impressed. Whoever this girl was, she had guts.

It was becoming clearer why the fight had begun. Yukari continued to scan the room impassively.

Internally, it took all her years of training to suppress her growing anger and disgust.

The other students weren't embroiled in the current conflict but Yukari passed over them anyway. A lot of scared human faces, male and female. All attention was still on her. Good.

Near the back of the class, a colossal young woman stared back at Yukari.

Even Yukari had to take pause at this one, though her expression would never betray it.

This girl was gigantic. She barely fit behind her desk. This was not due to any excess weight, but because of the enormous snake tail that was coiled tightly below her human torso.

Had she fully extended herself Yukari figured she had a good chance of being able to touch the ceiling. As it was she merely towered over every single person in the classroom, with the exception of the standing Yukari. She still reached her teacher's shoulders.

Even by the standard of lamias this girl was a _giant._

The rest of her features weren't any less striking. Long, straight black hair flowed down her back. The eyes were human enough, but the dark red irises had an otherworldly property that would have been distinctly unnerving to the uninitiated. Yukari couldn't tell if the intense frown on her face was from anger or carefully arranged nerves.

She didn't look like she belonged in a school, despite the normal, if gigantic uniform. In the Special Forces perhaps.

The only weakness the girl gave away was that she seemed extremely tense. Her eyes, while focussed on her teacher, occasionally glanced sympathetically towards the front of the room. Despite her enormous size and firm disposition Yukari found it difficult to imagine her getting angry.

There was a certain gentle grace about her, Yukari thought. She continued to scan the room.

What she saw next made her blood boil.

Near the back, just one desk away from the rear door, was a young woman.

Her appearance was truly alien.

Her skin was dark blue, for a start. Short, wavy green hair extruded from her head, the same colour as seaweed. Her face might have seemed quite pretty by human standards, but it was marred by two narrow slits that served as a poor replacement for a nose. Pointed, elf-like ears pointed straight back behind her head. She could no doubt hear what was happening behind her more clearly than what was happening to her front.

Her body, or what was visible of it behind her desk, was no less bizarre. Her arms were graced by striking, graceful fins, and yet they ended in webbed hands that looked nothing short of awkward… and incredibly fragile. In fact, her entire slender frame looked incredibly fragile. She was slender, to the point of seeming frail, yet Yukari knew better than to judge by appearances. It was blindingly obvious even to an amateur that this girl's body was not designed for the land. She belonged to the sea.

Confirmation of this was slightly more subtle but still easy to detect. To the sides of her chest Yukari could see ridges under her clothing. She instantly recognised them for what they were. This girl had gills. As for her school uniform, it had quite obviously been heavily modified. Large slits were torn in the sleeves to admit her fins and the proportions of her shirt would have been very hard to find in any normal clothes store. She was taller than average despite her meagre frame.

None of this affected Yukari. What made her blood boil was the fact that this girl was having a mental breakdown. A mental breakdown hardly anyone in the class had noticed.

They'd been too distracted by whatever stupid fight had taken place at the front of the classroom. There were moments where Yukari wanted to grab her students and shake them violently till they grew working eyes and a heart. This was one of those times.

The girl was tensely gripping the far end of her desk, her eyes as wide as saucers. Very human tears were dropping from her face. She shook violently.

To Yukari's relief she wasn't alone. Two girls were by her side, obviously trying to get her to calm down. They were the only ones who seemed to have noticed what was going on.

One of the girls was definitely human. Short and slender, with short, black hair cut in a bob, she definitely fit most people's definition of cute. Of the two girls she was the more active, sitting right up close to the strange girl. She was whispering reassurances to her and was the only one, in fact, that wasn't paying any attention to her teacher.

Yukari grimly noted that at least one of her pupils had their priorities sorted out.

She seemed to be trying to convince the mergirl to quietly leave the classroom, which Yukari silently agreed was the best course of action. However, she clearly lacked the will to physically carry her out of the class. Yukari could see from the terrorised expression on the mergirl's face that she wouldn't be leaving under her own steam. She would have to be guided.

Yukari was no stranger to difficult classes, but even to her this was turning into a nightmare.

The last girl appeared to be trying to get her attention, though she was clearly unwilling to shout. Yukari was silently grateful for that, though she wasn't sure if the girl was being tactful, was far too polite or was simply too scared to do anything more proactive than raise her hand. At any rate, she was quiet, for now.

She was also an elf, which was strange enough on its own. They had equal rights to humans and inhabited their own cities near the old Mori Clan domains. The elven capital, Osaka, was specially built for their unique environmental requirements in mind. Outside the ever-present requirements of business and trade modern civilisation demanded, few elves visited human cities. They still swore loyalty to the president though.

The elves were one of the few races that humanity regarded as equals. It wasn't racism but biological differences that kept the two races apart.

The problem was that human environments poisoned elves.

This girl couldn't use a plastic pen. She couldn't wear artificial clothing. If she took off the enchanted surgical mask she was wearing the lingering pollution in the air would start to irritate her lungs. Outside it would slowly start to poison her, and as for breathing in a mouthful of car fumes…

…that would be enough for a hospital visit. If she was lucky and the paramedics got there in time.

Plastic was toxic to elves. So was tarmac and every other product of the oil age. Radiation was just as fatal. They had specialised dietary requirements that excluded all kinds of man-made flavourings and preservatives. Alcohol was deadly, drugs worse and all of this was just the tip of the many natural restrictions elves had around products of the modern age.

This girl was literally surrounded by things that could kill her.

She was even sitting in a wooden chair. A plastic one would leave a rash for days.

In other words, there were very few rational reasons for this girl to be in a human city, studying in a human school. There were far healthier environments for her to spend her senior education in. Even to Yukari, who had read her file and background, her presence here was a mystery. Did the elven council send a girl here just to prove a point?

If so, it was an odd point. Elves were stereotyped as being snooty, arrogant and incredibly beautiful. Tall, graceful, beautiful silvery-blonde hair, and the voices… oh, the voices of refined angels.

None of that applied to this girl.

She was incredibly, unbelievably plain. Not ugly, not the kind of girl who would send every potential date running for cover in moments. No, just… incredibly average. A slightly chubby face contained two big, vacant eyes that seemed dreamy and away with the fairies even as they urgently tried to draw attention towards an emergency. The way the muscles around her mouth relaxed despite her urgent gestures… everything about this girl shouted "space cadet, eleven o'clock."

Graceful would never describe this girl and neither would sharp, for that matter. Both of which were fundamental parts of being elvish!

On top of that she had plain brown hair and a dumpy, square body that had absolutely nothing of interest to speak of. Yukari wondered if she had found the no doubt proud owner of the most boring body on the planet.

There was literally nothing there to talk about; this was the most average girl in the world. If she didn't have pointy ears she would be indistinguishable from humanity.

She was so average, she _stood out._

As she waited patiently with her hand in the air, Yukari forced away her wonder at the total non-wonder and examined the mess in front of her. She broke it down into its elements.

A girl was having a panic attack. Two girls had been hit. The atmosphere of the class was poisoned and the students were more focussed on the species divide than they were on their studies. More enemies and bitter rivals had been made in five minutes than would have normally been made in three years.

On top of that an elementary school student was passed out in the middle of the corridor seconds before homeroom was due to empty out. And somewhere, another student was probably crying in a bathroom somewhere wondering how many years it would be before she could show her face in a classroom again.

This was a teacher's worst nightmare. There were some teachers who would probably have had a panic attack. More would have been reduced to yelling and others would have simply gone for help.

Yukari wasn't any of them however. She knew exactly how she was going to deal with the crisis.

Without shouting, in words that were almost a whisper, she gave the class their instruction so quietly that the ones in the back had to lean forward to hear it. It was not repeated.

"Everyone write your name on the board, _now."_


	3. Classroom Management

Classroom Management

Yukari's instruction rippled through the classroom, silently sinking under the skin of every student there. As quiet as it was, everyone heard it.

For a moment, nobody moved. Then, slowly, every student in the room got up. The class moved as one towards the board, and in stony silence.

Some practically ran towards the front of the classroom. One boy was in such a hurry he banged his leg upon a desk. Others sullenly wandered up to the board, disenchanted and angry at being treated like elementary students. None dared voice any discontent.

Only three girls remained seated.

The mergirl continued to clutch her desk, unresponsive. Her friends, thankfully, had had the common sense not to move from her side.

That had been Yukari's plan. She wanted the class distracted from what was going on. The last thing that girl needed was for everyone to "helpfully" crowd around her, pressuring her and sending her deeper into panic. She needed room and time to calm down.

"Teacher there aren't enough pens!" A student piped up.

Yukari had ignored her, already moving towards the back of the class. Nonetheless, the student got a very sharp reply.

"Figure it out."

The voice had come from the cat-eared girl. Being near the front of the class, she had also been one of the fastest to respond. She'd already finished writing her name in neat Kanji and was handing a pen over to one of the boys.

 _Takino Tomo._

She seemed to have shifted from rage to boredom within the space of five seconds. She was frowning at her classmate with a hand on her hip, waiting for him to take the pen impatiently. There was more than a little contempt in her expression and she released the pen the moment the boy touched it.

Only the tension in her body language evidenced the fact she was still extremely angry.

Yukari didn't waste any of the meagre window of time she'd bought for herself. She trusted that the class could at least figure out how to write their names on the board.

Quietly, she approached the huddle of girls at the back. As she approached, she lowered herself down, until she was crouching at the front of the mergirl's desk.

She very consciously kept her body hidden behind the desk, hiding the bloodstained jacket.

The girl continued to tremble violently. However, she seemed to have calmed down enough to be responsive. Scared brown eyes, piercingly human, stared back at Yukari. Searched for guidance.

Her cheeks were flushed bright blue. She was obviously deeply ashamed of losing control.

As gently as she could without whispering, Yukari spoke.

"Kagura, do you want to leave the classroom?"

The mergirl's eyes shot open as she heard her name being spoken. She stared back in obvious surprise.

Then, miserably, she let her head fall in acquiescence. There was a conflicted, beaten expression on her face.

The two girls at her side glanced at one another nervously. They stared back at their teacher, looking to her for instruction, for some solution to the horrible situation. It was obvious from their fearful expressions that they weren't unaffected.

One step at a time. Slowly, clearly, Yukari told them what to do.

"Miss Kasuga,…" Yukari started.

She hesitated. The other girl, what was her name? She didn't match any of the class photographs…

The girl saw her predicament.

"It's K-"

"Miss Aida." Yukari pre-empted. She'd realised her student had had a haircut. "Miss Kasuga, Miss Aida, please take Kagura and go to my office. Turn right down the hallway and take the first right. It's the door at the end of the hallway."

Kaori, for that was her _first_ name, just stared. It was hard to judge what she was thinking behind her luminescent blush. Was she impressed by Yukari's thoroughness in learning her student's names? Or creeped out? It could possibly have gone both ways.

Either way, she clammed up and nodded.

Firmly, Yukari pressed a key into Ayumu Kasuga's hand. The elf wordlessly accepted the small metal object, staring back at Yukari in silent respect.

With a clear goal to work towards the elf seemed less away from the world and more alert. Placing a hand on Kagura's shoulder, she quietly motioned for Kaori to stand up and do the same.

With as much dignity as possible, both girls slowly, gently, helped their panicking classmate to her feet.

As Yukari gently and impassively directed a few curious students back to their seats or to the board, the three girls drifted quietly out of the door and into the corridor. It had taken less than thirty seconds.

Most of the students had finished writing their names on the board. Yukari noticed, however, that one girl hadn't written her name.

It was the lamia from before. Despite her serious, measured expression Yukari instantly knew why she hadn't got up.

The girl's size and awkward serpentine biology meant that simply navigating the classroom would prove challenging. In addition, swarms of her smaller and more agile classmates still occupied the front of the class. Many had failed to sit down after writing their names, flocking together in a manner that Yukari unfavourably compared to frightened lambs surrounded by wolves. The snake girl had obviously decided that navigating such circumstances was unwise.

Or more likely, she was afraid of the embarrassment of trying. It was an element of her personality she hid extremely well, to the point where it was probably unconscious, but Yukari could see through it. This girl was, to at least some extent, shy. Or at least, uncomfortable around the hordes of people not of her own species. The idea of having to uncoil and move her bizarre form as crowds of her peers watched was clearly mortifying to her. She'd no doubt encountered stares and cries of shock as she'd made her way to Ieyasu High.

Yukari sympathised and knew that most teachers would have left her to get on with it at her own pace. However, she couldn't approve. This girl would have to cope with crowded corridors and chaotic playgrounds if she was going to live a normal life here. She couldn't afford to be this inhibited.

So Yukari gave her a push.

"Sakaki, board."

The girl responded immediately, her head snapping round as if she'd been stung. At first her mouth opened completely from surprise.

Then, it closed partially as she gritted almost toothless gums together.

Yukari spotted two small fangs as the girl turned her head to the board. She was visibly stressed now, her facial muscles tense, red eyes narrowed and fangs slightly bared. Sakaki stared intensely at the board, as if it were some kind of colossal mountain to climb.

After only a few moments' consideration she didn't budge. Instead she turned and gave her teacher an imploring look.

Yukari just stared right back. She wasn't moving an inch. Her facial expression simply said "go for it."

Reluctantly, Sakaki began to uncoil her enormous form from behind her desk.

For those who had never seen a lamia before it was a memorable sight to watch. As the upper lengths of her tail uncoiled Sakaki rapidly seemed to gain height. Then, her entire upper body swayed. She slowly lowered herself towards the ground, torso hanging at forty-five degrees to the ground as she pushed the belly of her snake-tail down.

The upper part of her reptilian body slid towards the ground, thousands of muscles visibly straining under the effort of moving the enormous bulk. It contacted the floor and then slowly began to move forward… and up. As her upper and lower halves curled into a half-S, Sakaki was finally drawn upright again.

Even with half her total length horizontal to the ground Sakaki was easily the tallest girl in the school. She was even taller than Yukari "standing up" and most of that was torso. Had she drawn herself up as far as she could go Yukari had little doubt that Sakaki was capable of breaking eleven feet.

In addition to that her frame was in proportion to her height. Where Kagura was tall and wiry, Sakaki looked like she could break a desk in half with her bare hands.

It hadn't gone unnoticed. Both Yukari and Sakaki were aware of the stares, and Sakaki winced as two girls at the back of the classroom gasped and started to gossip to each other. A quick glare from Yukari reminded them that no talking was in force, but it was still an uncomfortable atmosphere as Sakaki slowly pulled her enormous bulk towards the front of the classroom.

She moved incredibly slowly. Serpents were not well-suited to flat surfaces and lamias were no exception. The flat panel floor of the classroom offered Sakaki little for her muscles to push off of.

The result was that she moved at a slow, creeping pace. As she slid awkwardly towards the front of the classroom, her enormous presence went from being noticeable to impossible to ignore.

Eyes were beginning to turn. Most of the students had finished writing their name, and the gaggles of students at the front of the class began to part fearfully as Sakaki approached. The sensation of being watched, of being feared, was soon boring into Sakaki from all directions.

Yukari didn't intervene. The students had to learn to deal with each other. Despite this a wave of frustration and sympathetic embarrassment shot through her as she saw Sakaki begin to crumple under the increased pressure.

The last girl was writing her name. As she saw Sakaki approach however, she instinctively gasped and stepped timidly to the side. It was a cringe-worthy moment.

The girl met a hand on her back however as Tomo stopped her with a steadying palm to the back. The cat directed her back towards the board.

"Finish writing your name." She insisted.

As Tomo reassuringly directed her classmate back to the board, Yukari noted how the catgirl's eyes met Sakaki's. There was a definite note of understanding and sympathy there.

The girl finished writing her name. Without meeting Sakaki's eyes, she nervously left the pen at the board tried to return the long way to her seat, not daring to pass Sakaki's gargantuan form.

Tomo, however, saw the action for the cowardice that it was. Folding her arms, she she stepped in front of the girl. She stared straight into her eyes, shaming her classmate.

Reluctantly, the girl passed by Sakaki, even as she visibly winced. It was an uncomfortable, poisonous moment and Sakaki was blushing as violently as the girl was by the time she'd passed her tail.

Tomo, for her part, was unflinching. Despite probably being the shortest girl in the room, she looked her huge classmate directly in the eyes, offered her the pen and then stalked wordlessly back to her desk.

Sakaki finished writing her name on the board quickly. Despite its haste the kanji was extremely neat.

By this time she was the only student left at the front of the class… which was exactly the situation Yukari had wanted to avoid. Worse, Sakaki's sheer bulk meant she had difficulty turning round in the tight space.

Slowly, she pulled her back half along the ground, decreasing the amount and width of her lower body that still occupied the classroom aisle. However, this also made it more awkward to turn herself around.

What this led to was a series of serpentine acrobatics that only served to mark out how different Sakaki really was.

Sakaki had to swerve wildly in the air to face the opposite direction. Her torso came nearly horizontal to the board and ground as she looped around, her back arching to guide herself in the correct direction. The angle she hung at looked painful and it was obvious that her back and stomach muscles had to be a lot stronger than a normal human's.

By the time she'd finished her loop Sakaki had formed a half-circle that almost covered the breadth of the whiteboard. Half of her serpentine half was still suspended awkwardly in the air and she couldn't seem to drop it down due to the fact her body was still twisted.

Worse, Sakaki was visibly wincing. Completing the turn in such an awkward manner had obviously taken a lot of effort.

The reactions of the class to this spectacle were mixed, but none of them were normal, or could even be called respectful. Most of the class just stared, a mixture of nausea and amazement as they stared at the bizarre creature in front of them and her movements respectively. One boy was visibly blushing and a second was determinedly studying the world outside. A girl started to giggle only to be shamed into silence by a mere questioning stare from Yukari.

Yukari, for her part, had a little more time to consider all the ways her attempt to normalise the classroom atmosphere was backfiring by the minute. She'd intended to force Sakaki out of a shell and treat her as a normal student.

Instead, she'd wound up putting her differences under a spotlight.

She was also silently angry at Tomo. That hadn't been her fight. It was up to Sakaki to judge how others reacted to her. Part of Yukari's job, for her part, was managing the classroom so she could do so safely. Tomo might have been trying to force people to treat Sakaki as an equal, but what she'd really done was take away her agency. Not to mention the attention she'd drawn with her obstruction stunt had emphasised the divide in the classroom.

Worse, it could have started another round of fighting. If the girl had become aggressive instead of ashamed…

Yukari knew that Tomo's intentions had been good. It didn't make them any less maddeningly counterproductive. She watched miserably as the rest of the story unfolded.

Sakaki straightened herself out and retreated down the aisle. Despite her steady expression a glistening in her eye suggested she was close to tears. As she beat her humiliating retreat, Yukari strode to the front of the classroom, directing the class's attention away from Sakaki and towards her. The sooner they moved forward from this moment the better.

Despite this, more than a few staring faces lingered as Sakaki awkwardly coiled herself behind her desk again, a miserable expression of shame and embarrassment evident on her face.

How else were you supposed to feel when your peers saw you as a freak?

Before Sakaki's mood could sink any lower, before she could actually burst into tears, Yukari called the class to attention with a handclap.

Order had been taken care of. It was time to establish some law.

"My name is Yukari Tanizaki. I'm the head of demonology in Ieyasu High, and the bloodstains on my jacket are from the four-story tall ogre I slew this morning."

Funny, some of the class were just noticing the bloodstains. To say everyone's attention was on the teacher would have been an understatement. A train breaking through the walls and crushing the last row of students would have taken a few moments to receive any attention.

"I also teach English and Biology to the first and second year classes. And cover for Mandarin from time to time."

You could have heard a pin drop.

Not all of the children assembled were alarmed by the blood-spattered giant-slayer in front of them. A few were impressed. The spiky-haired girl from the argument before had a look of pure astonishment on her face. She seemed excited rather than intimidated. A few of the boys' faces had shifted from consternation to admiration, and towards the back, there was one boy who was clearly enraptured.

Sakaki, on the other hand, was taking a keen interest in what lay outside her window, even if her nervous glances towards the front of the classroom indicated she was all too aware of what her teacher was saying. She obviously didn't find the subject pleasant. Killing, fighting and other violent acts were clearly of no interest whatsoever to her. Yukari couldn't help but note the wisdom of that.

This view contrasted dramatically with her other monstrous classmate. Tomo's face had shifted from anger to what looked disturbingly like stoic hero worship. She was still looking directly into Yukari's eyes, but for once it seemed more out of rapt attention than from confrontation.

The expression on her face was one of respect, but it was more than that. That focussed, unflinching gaze was one that Yukari had seen before. It was one she'd worn herself before and it was one that left her deeply troubled.

Tomo was saying nothing. She was listening politely.

She didn't need to say anything.

The look on her face could be read like an open book.

 _You're a hero. I want to be a hero. Give me a chance to be like you._

 _Even though I don't know anything about what that means._

…

For a moment, a split second, Yukari's authoritarian mask faltered as she stared just a little too long into the mirror. Almost no one caught it.

Almost. A flicker of a smile drifted across Tomo's lips.

As briefly shaken as she was, Yukari quickly returned to form. She stared out over the class, double checking their attention.

Her boast had had its desired effect. The class were hanging on her every word.

"Now," she said quietly, "what happened?"

Slowly, the hands went up, the words came out, and the whole sorry story unfolded.


	4. Skin Deep

Skin Deep

Chihiro watched nervously as her classmates began to filter into the classroom.

She'd heard the news. They all had. _Monsters were coming to the school._

It was unprecedented. Monsters and humans had been segregated for over four hundred years. Attitudes had begun to change but…

The truth was that Chihiro wasn't nervous about the monsters. She was a lot more nervous about the reactions of her classmates. She could already hear them talking.

She could hear the girl beside her particularly clearly. This wasn't good, because at that moment in time Chihiro wanted nothing more than to push her head underwater and hold on until she stopped struggling. That or push it into a book. Both could be good cures, if just as painful and traumatic for both parties.

"Did you know they're letting freaks into the school? Monsters!"

Aki Yoshida had been Chihiro's friend. Emphasis; _had_ been. Up until today. However, she seemed absolutely dead set on testing that friendship to the limit today. The ignorance she was rattling off made Chihiro wish the floor would swallow her up… or swallow Aki up.

At least the words weren't being directed at her. The unfortunate victim was a boy behind Aki who already looked like he wanted to hang himself. Chihiro already liked him, if only by the fact that he seemed as uncomfortable with Aki's diatribe as she was.

It was a long diatribe and definitely worth cutting down to the cliff notes version. At any rate, it followed the same pattern of every racist rant ever.

Monsters were less intelligent than humans and yet somehow also a mortal threat to their society. They were also all plotting their society's downfall in various ways. Those exact ways varied by species, but they generally followed the modus operandi of letting some shadowy figure take over the presidency.

Lamias wanted demons to take over the presidency. Vampires wanted their patriarch to take over the presidency. Cats would rise up in rebellion and take over the presidency, and then destroy the country. Werewolves would turn the president into one of them. Elves wouldn't take over the presidency, but they would turn the president into a nature freak.

As for merfolk, or as Aki liked to call them, fish people, they weren't going to take over the presidency. They were just stealing all the fish and wouldn't go back to the sea where they belonged. To hell with the fact that that would kill them.

It was almost admirable how Aki managed to cover every stereotype and myth in the book. In fact, she'd probably made some edits of her own. It was making Chihiro want to jam her headfirst into a man-sized bucket of cranky koala bears.

Worse, Aki wasn't the only source of such myths. There were more than a few students who were gossiping about the "species of human-like intelligence". Objections ran along various lines, with the mildest running along irreconcilable cultural differences and branching out into more offensive territory from there. Monsters were either too stupid for human high school, dangerous in some way, involved in crime, involved with cults, would steal secrets and bring them back to their own communities (never mind they were part of the same country) or would be susceptible to foreign influence if they ever got into a position of power.

That last point was nonsense of course. Non-humans had the most to lose from Japan being taken over by a foreign power.

It took a considerable amount of willpower on Chihiro's part not to go into a diatribe of her own. If she ever got into office she was going to make non-human studies mandatory.

Just before she finally broke, the class went quiet.

It didn't take long for Chihiro to see what the fuss was about. Standing just inside the door was the first of the non-humans.

She she stood hesitantly in front of the doorway, a finned arm drawn defensively to her stomach. The mergirl was obviously nervous but she tried hard not to show it.

The gathered students looked around themselves uncertainly. This wasn't what they'd been expecting.

What they'd been expecting was the other. Not a girl their own age who shared their hopes and fears. Someone just as nervous about their first day at a new school.

It wasn't just her obvious uncertainty but her species that was disarming. Everyone knew about the refugees. The mood in the classroom shifted from hostile to overwhelmingly sympathetic. Aki glared, but even she glanced around the room uncertainly.

Few knew how to express that sympathy appropriately however. It was soon clear one knew quite how to respond. An awkwardness began to fill the classroom as the silence became just a little too long.

Chihiro was about to open her mouth and invite her in. Something needed to break the tension.

Then, to her surprise, the mergirl spoke first.

"Hello everyone."

The class stared. A few nods of acknowledgement, but mostly just surprise. No one had expected someone this obviously afraid to introduce themselves off the cuff. Let alone this boldly and in front of an alien audience.

"My name is Kagura, and my people and I would like to thank you for letting me study here. The kindness your people have shown us is unforgettable, and I promise to do my best with the chance your principal has given me."

Sombre silence.

This girl had spoken with such grace and firmness despite her nerves. It was a bravery that a class full of reserved teenagers instantly admired. The accent was peculiar, and most definitely not Japanese. Nor did she sound particularly refined. But she had a certain presence.

Some of the tension that permeated the classroom lifted. Certain members of the class looked distinctly embarrassed about their behaviour before. It was funny how stupid stereotypes could appear when confronted with a face. Human or otherwise.

However, as Kagura finished she stood there. She was obviously uncertain about how to proceed.

This needed to be a two way street. Someone needed to take up the pick-axe and break through the human side of the ice.

Spontaneously, Chihiro found herself cheering.

"We're rooting for you Kagura!"

The mergirl's eyes shot open at that, and glimmered slightly as a few more boys and girls joined in with encouragements. Blushing radiant blue she mumbled a "Thank you" and headed for her seat.

One person's expression didn't soften however. Aki continued to stare disapprovingly at Kagura.

And Kagura noticed. As she headed towards the classroom their eyes met… and Kagura's nerves came back in full force.

She hesitated, a tense grimace on her face. The atmosphere in the classroom began to chill again as the two girls built towards a confrontation.

"Aki, cut it out." Chihiro reprimanded.

For a few more moments Aki glared. Then, snorting, she looked away. To Chihiro's intense relief.

The damage had been done though. Kagura was visibly unnerved. As a classmate politely directed her to her seat, she kept glancing nervously at Aki.

Chihiro, for her part, had to hold back the urge to scream. Hadn't they been through enough without being bullied by humans too? Even the most xenophobic elements of Japanese society were willing to leave the merfolk alone after the horrors they'd faced under the ocean. Apparently even that was too much for Aki to accept with good grace.

Five more newcomers to go. How was this going to end?

* * *

Adorable. That was the only way to describe the chestnut-haired moppet that was standing in front of the class. From the great big gold eyes to the cheery smile to the cute little tear-drop pig-tails, she was an instant hit. A dozen gasps went up from girl and guy alike, even the hardest of hearts melting in a second.

What a small child was doing in high school didn't really matter. The class was spellbound. For a moment, Chihiro wondered if she was under the effects of the mesmer.

"Hi, I'm Mihama Chiyo. Nice to meet you!"

A dozen cheery hellos followed in return, along with a few gasps and one "By the Gods, she's so cute!" The little girl didn't have to say anything to be instantly loved.

In fact if Chiyo had been able to leave it there it would have been an excellent start. Unfortunately, she never got the chance. The questions began to pour in.

That's when things started to go wrong.

"How old are you?" A girl asked.

"Are you a vampire?"

"How did you get in here?" A sceptical boy queried.

"Are you sure you're in the right school sweetie? There's an Elementary school just down the…"

"Can vampires really control people's minds?" one boy rudely demanded.

It was too much. Chiyo's bubble of anxiety burst. She cried out.

"Please wait!

The class went silent, mollified slightly as Chiyo nervously glanced out over the twenty or so heads that were turned in her direction.

"Please?"

Suddenly she was very unsure of herself. As confident as her introduction had been she clearly hadn't been ready for the barrage of questions that followed.

"Umm… uh… I'm…"

She looked close to panic. Alarmed, Chihiro opened her mouth.

"It's ok, you can just sit down-"

Chihiro was shut up instantly as Chiyo scowled. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

Or the right thing. The little girl's expression hardened… which might have been scary on someone just a little older and taller. As it was it just made her cuter. At any rate, she'd changed.

She went on with determination.

"I'm eleven years old." Chiyo replied, firmly. "And yes, I'm a vampire. I'm a little nervous about being here so… "

She hesitated, some of the nerves coming back. Her expression softened.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't make a big deal of it."

Despite her best attempts some pleading slipped into her voice. Around the classroom there were definitely some uncomfortable glances. Many of them were guilty; some of the more ignorant students were clearly feeling extremely stupid about themselves. Chiyo went on, her confidence building.

"So… I jumped five grades. Four in Elementary and one in Junior High… not that I want to boast or anything! I mean-"

"Five grades?" Aki raised an eyebrow, scepticism dripping from her voice.

She wasn't the only one. A wave of doubt spread through the class as several students started to mutter.

"What the hell?"

"How could she do that?"

"That's not possible."

"It certainly shouldn't be!"

"Did her parents pay the board or something?" one boy muttered.

Without an authority figure backing her up it was a hard fact to swallow. Chiyo looked around the class nervously, the accusation quickly biting into her. Someone older might have bitten back, but that was sort of the problem. Chiyo wasn't old enough to handle this kind of public pressure.

Kagura tried to salvage some decorum from the situation as she quietly beckoned Chiyo to go on. Chihiro did her best to add a reassuring nod, but it was a weak gesture.

She gave a sidelong glare at Aki, who was smirking. As if intimidating an eleven year old speaking in front of an audience was something to be proud of.

Bravely, Chiyo pushed on. The accusations had clearly thrown her off her gait though. Her voice was quieter.

This wasn't just from lost confidence. It was also the subject matter. Chiyo was addressing the last question and it was obviously the one that bothered her the most.

"…um… so, I didn't know about the Elementary school, thank you. But I can't use the Mesmer, if that's what you're asking. Only Spirit-sympathetic vampires can use mind-control…"

That was an unfortunate turn of phrase and Chiyo instantly regretted it. Dark glances shot across the classroom, the atmosphere chilling by the second.

"…and even then it's usually only for a few seconds under eye contact!" Chiyo added this reassurance so hastily she nearly ran out of breath. She inhaled sharply. "Uhh…"

" _Just sit down Chiyo."_ Chihiro thought, eager for this to be over. She stole a glance at Kagura, who was clearly thinking the same thing.

There was a tense, anxious expression on the mergirl's face. It was obvious to both of them that Chiyo wasn't comfortable. Nor should she have been. This was rapidly becoming an interrogation instead of an introduction.

Why the hell didn't this girl have an adult with her? Where was their homeroom teacher anyway? It would be time for first period classes soon!

"…so…" Chiyo continued miserably "…I'm actually Earth-sympathetic, so I can't use the mesmer. I promise you. Um…"

So many eyes demanding an answer. Were these cowards honestly afraid of a little vampire girl? Or were they just taking out their prejudices on an easy target?

Whatever the answer Chihiro felt a bolt of anger spark within her.

Just before Chihiro was ready to command Chiyo to sit down the little girl mercifully finished her awkward Q&A.

"…I can change my shape though. Not into anything scary! Just…"

She hesitated.

"Just a bat and cat so far." She finished quietly.

That caught the classes interest, and mercifully not in a hostile manner. As her audience's mood lifted Chiyo thankfully managed to finish on a high.

"And I can manage a Saint-Bernard puppy when there's nothing else going on!"

A few quiet wows at that. More than a few students started clapping. That thankfully led to a general applause, even though it felt a little forced.

Chiyo mumbled her thank you and sat down, though she still looked like she'd had her Christmas ruined.

It had been an unwelcome initiation into a world the young girl had obviously had little experience with. She looked genuinely shaken. For a few seconds, Chihiro considered going up and saying something to her. Then she considered the attention that would bring and that it would probably just make things worse. As upset as she was, Chihiro had to remain seated.

It definitely underscored how nervous many of the students really were about having monsters in the classroom. Even something as obviously benign as Chiyo had them on edge. As the wave of clapping subsided it was obvious some of it was polite rather than genuine. The atmosphere of tension that Kagura had so skilfully lifted returned in force.

It was going to be a long morning.

Thankfully the next non-human into the room had far fewer sinister connotations. Though she gave the class plenty to talk about.

Was she actually an elf, or was it all just a cunning disguise? Was someone this spacey capable of disguise? Would they forget their role halfway through or would it add to the role's charm? Maybe she'd been cursed? Who'd she steal the ears of anyway? The stitching job was neat.

Was the mask to protect against toxins or was it to hide the pointed alien fangs that had stolen the body of one of the fair folk? Was she being used as a puppet to enable a takeover of Earth by a race of day-dreaming teeth people? People needed to know.

At any rate, Ayumu Kasuga was the most atypical elf Chihiro had ever seen. Of course she was the first elf Chihiro had ever seen, so there was that.

There wasn't much else to say about her. At least she didn't unnerve the class in the same way Chiyo's vampirism had. She drifted off to the back corner of the room with barely a word, taking a seat behind Kagura. She clearly didn't want to draw too much attention to herself… which on the first day in a new school was fair enough. Pretty much nobody bothered her and she soon faded into the background. It was just like every other introduction ever.

The next girl to walk into class looked perfectly human, yet she stood out more than Kagura had.

For starters she was tall. Not gigantic, but she was tall. In fact she was probably the tallest girl in the class. A few of the tallest boys reached above her, but it was by a few centimetres.

She was also well built. Despite the slightly nerdy looking glasses she had the build of a sportswoman. It was the kind of physique that obviously took some training to build. She was obviously strong, and a few of the girls were eyeing her rather enviously.

Other than that she looked completely normal. It was her attitude that really stood out. She confidently strode into the room and straight to the front of the class, a cocky grin on her face.

That disappeared in seconds as a serious frown replaced it. It was obvious she intended this introduction to be all business.

"Hello. My name is Mizuhara Koyomi, and I'm a werewolf."

"Anyone got a problem with that?"

Silence. Yomi stared the whole room down, daring any idiot to object to her presence. She looked like she could take the entire classroom if it came down to it. If there were any xenophobic thoughts they weren't voiced.

Chihiro glanced nervously at Aki, who was obviously trying to build up the courage to say something stupid and offensive. Thankfully she kept her trap shut.

As the opposition subsided Koyomi's serious demeanour vanished away like it had never existed. Her face relaxed at once into a friendly smile.

"Cool. Then you can call me Yomi."

She moved onto the _really_ important question.

"Now does anyone here play basketball?"

A devilish grin formed on Yomi's face as she said that. Her eyes darted wildly back and forth over the class, looking for worthy opponents. It was obvious this girl was an avid sports fan.

A few hands shot up. Despite the brusque introduction some people were clearly interested. If there was any stereotype surrounding werewolves it was mostly that they made wickedly good sports players. That, and you really didn't want to piss them off.

It didn't hurt that there wasn't nearly as big a stigma attached to them as there was to vampires. At least the danger with a werewolf was fairly straight forward.

There was really only one rule with werewolves. Don't make them angry. Otherwise, hope you hadn't run into one of the very few werewolves who couldn't control their other side.

That was the flip side. Once transformed they could be very dangerous.

Grinning like a maniac, Yomi concluded her speech.

"Great, see you on the court this break-time. Don't disappoint me!"

There was some actual laughter at that, and the class instantly relaxed. Smiling from ear to ear, Yomi took her seat right at the front of the classroom. She was obviously expecting a good year. For her at least.

Chihiro was beginning to have hope that this wasn't going to be so bad after all. After Chiyo's painful introduction the class was starting to look relaxed. These monsters weren't so bad. What could go wrong now?

Then the next student appeared, and Chihiro learned exactly how quickly a large group of people could turn.

It was the sound that alerted the class that something very big was coming. Something very big, and not human.

It sounded disturbingly like a dead body being dragged along the ground. The body bag rubbing against a plastic surface. It was enough on its own to unman some students.

Before it even reached the door, the class had already stopped chatting amongst themselves. The portal opened to the silence of the grave.

When it did so, one girl actually gasped in fright.

It was like something from a nightmare. Half girl, half hideous serpent, it slithered into the room dwarfing all who stood before it. Easily six feet tall, it had to duck to avoid the door frame.

As the twelve foot long demon twisted its way into the room, everyone fell silent. The good will of the last few minutes faded away as if it had never been.

" _Oh no…"_ Chihiro thought.

It was impossible for this to be received well. In fact, the girl who had shrieked looked like she was seriously freaking out… and she wasn't the only one. Boys and girls alike were eyeing the newcomer in pure fright.

Nobody had mentioned this. Monsters, sure, but _this?_

This wasn't like merfolk and elves. It wasn't even like vampires and werewolves. Lamias were feared and hated by humans. They were a rare sight near human parts of town.

The reason for this was that they had the same cursed blood that ran through most of the otherworldly horrors. The ones that that attacked the city every day. Those blood red eyes weren't a gift from genetics.

This girl had real, powerful demonic blood running through her veins. There were otherworldly, dark powers she had access to that humans didn't.

Chihiro had been raised in a liberal, well-educated household. She knew academically that lamias had lived side by side with humans for centuries. That they'd been their surest allies in wars against the demons and had paid the price for that.

And she knew the shameful other half, the violent and brutal behaviour of humanity towards these peaceful warriors. Lamias had suffered more from group violence than any other minority in Japan, human or otherwise.

But still...

If there was anyone who should have been feeling afraid at that moment it was the newcomer. Yet even Chihiro couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved as the colossus slowly and awkwardly pushed onwards into the classroom. There was no effort made for an introduction.

The class held firm. No one ran from the classroom or murmured. But it was obvious, painfully obvious, that many students were more than just put off by this girl.

They were actually scared.

As the teenager slowly made her way across the room, every fearful eye in the class on her, she held a courageous, neutral expression. Yet desks still moved back and away from her as she did.

That brave expression fell slightly every time it happened.

The non-humans were barely handling the situation better themselves. Chiyo was switching nervously between staring at the demon's movements and glancing at her classmates. She seemed genuinely nervous about the giant, but she also seemed to be picking up on the negative atmosphere of the class. It was impossible for someone so young to not be affected by the xenophobia that had taken over the crowd.

Ayumu, for her part, was staring from the back of the class. There was a worried expression on her face, but due to her mask it was hard to tell if she was afraid of the demon or anxious about her classmates' reactions. But the most dramatic response was from Kagura.

Kagura looked genuinely unnerved. She'd had a nervous disposition from the moment she'd entered the classroom, one she'd carefully masked with confident decorum. That mask had at some point in the proceedings broken, and she now looked determinedly at her desk. Her breathing was heavy and rhythmic, and she was obviously trying to calm herself down.

Was this girl really this badly affected by the atmosphere of the class? Chihiro couldn't help but think that she was in for a rough year. Was this really the place for her?

Only one student was completely unaffected. Well, not unaffected, but her emotions were a little more proactive. It was clear from the look of indignant contempt on her face that she was underwhelmed with the way her human colleagues were handling the situation.

It wasn't long until her patience snapped.

"You're all a bunch of cowards." Yomi growled.

…

You could have heard a pin drop.

The desks stopped shuffling. Fear turned to shame. A boy who had been about to leap out of his seat as the snake-girl passed him shamefully stood his ground and bore the fear, even though he was sweating.

The class had been humiliated and they knew it. Shamed, they let their previously shunned classmate take her seat.

Sakaki continued to hold her expression steady, but she didn't say a word. Everything that needed to be said had already been said by her classmates. Chihiro watched her sink down onto her desk, crestfallen.

Despite her misery the clouds that had formed over the classroom seemed to lift slightly. Once you got over your fear, it was easy to let go.

One member of the class had been particularly badly affected. And it wasn't one of the monsters.

Chihiro had known. She'd known these giants were harmless. Why, then, had she still let herself become afraid?

There wasn't a person in the room who didn't feel guilt and shame in that moment, with the exception of Yomi. Yet in those poisonous seconds Chihiro felt utterly worthless. The guilt nearly overwhelmed her, and she hunkered down at her desk for a few seconds, embarrassed just to be in the room.

The atmosphere of fear might have lifted, but the poison hadn't cleared yet. A toxin of fear and uncertainty pervaded the room and no one was able to clear it.

The toxin did have a half-life however. The poison began to pass and nervous chatter started up again. Kagura's breathing began to return to normal as her fear subsided. Chiyo's gaze lingered on the sad giant who was gazing forlornly out the window, but some of the anxiety lifted, even if the cheerful smile had been firmly wiped off. Against all odds things were returning to normal.

Everything would have been fine if it hadn't been for one final earthquake that shattered all remaining harmony in the class and scattered the pieces across dimensions. The door opened one more time and a final girl stepped into the room.

There was absolutely nothing threatening about her. Chiyo excluded she was the shortest person to walk into the classroom. With a slight frame and little muscle she looked like she could have been knocked around by the wind. It was hard to imagine a less threatening individual.

She did look quite different. The dense black fur on her legs and forearms certainly stood out, as did the cat ears. The black tail in particular was eye-catching; it reached the top of her head. Yet none of this should have been any cause for concern.

That didn't stop half the class from staring at her with a deep, unreasoning hatred. Aki was the only one baring her teeth, but she wasn't alone in her stares. At least nine different individuals stared down this unwelcome newcomer as if she'd murdered a family member.

The other half froze. Chihiro felt the cold sensation of dread creep into her bones. This wasn't going to end well.

Cats had been on the bottom rung of society for millennia. They worked the mines, built the roads and generally did whatever menial, unpaid labour humanity was too lazy to do themselves. And it was the same everywhere. Across the world, across the ages.

Humans _ruled_ cats. They weren't equals, not even different but equal. For as long as human history went back, cats minded their betters. Whoever this "girl" was, she had overstepped an ancient line simply by setting foot inside this classroom.

She'd dared to mark herself as an equal and for some that was already unforgivable. Her personal qualities were irrelevant.

Worse, she didn't even try to hide it. Cats were supposed to keep their heads down around humans. They might not be slaves anymore, but they certainly didn't have the same protections as proper citizens. They were supposed to avoid trouble.

Attitudes were starting to change. But they didn't change that quickly.

Yet this girl, whoever she was, didn't show an ounce of fear. She strode confidently to the front of the classroom, the gleam in her eyes daring anyone to challenge her.

No one did, yet. But the confrontation was building. Chihiro's heart caught in her mouth.

Chiyo was staring on miserably. She hadn't got into high school at age eleven without learning something about Sociology. She'd heard enough about confrontations like this to know it never ended well. Especially for the cat.

She had to admit; it was different actually being in the mob.

Kagura, for her part, looked confused. Was something wrong? She glanced around the classroom, fear building inside her again as she watched the faces of her classmates. What had this girl done?

The cold fear began to build in her heart as she realised the answer was nothing. The shaking was stronger this time.

If the girl had simply gone to her seat she might have gotten away with a few jeers. But that could never happen. The kind of cat that was brave enough to set foot within a human-only institution and make it to where she intended to go unescorted was not going to just slink off.

She took her place at the front of the class, confronting every scoundrel's expectation to the contrary. Defying their contempt. Looking out over her assembled foes she met every eye, every hate-filled stare… and then she _smiled_.

It was the sweetest, politest and most incredibly fake crocodile smile anyone had ever worn.

"Hi, I'm Takino Tomo. Nice day, isn't it?"

The false cheeriness in her voice only poisoned the atmosphere more. It poisoned the atmosphere because as cheerful as it sounded, no one could escape the obvious bitterness and contempt that underlay it.

In fact, Chihiro was fairly sure that was deliberate. She felt herself begin to sweat, sweat that wasn't helped by a hearty chuckle from Yomi. This was going to end badly.

Yomi was clearly enjoying every second of this. She was looking around at the outraged faces, looking like she might burst into laughter at any second. The werewolf was visibly impressed.

It wasn't improving the xenophobes' mood. Now they were being mocked too. There was face on the line here.

It occurred to Chihiro that this situation might actually be dangerous. Maybe staying here wasn't a good idea. Maybe she should go and get help.

The rest of the class rose and fell on waves of anger and anxiety. Fists clenched, eyes stared, teeth gritted together.

But no one said a word. Tomo had so far out-nerved them.

Slowly, she began to stride down the aisles of the classroom. She headed for her seat.

Chihiro felt her eyes close in dread. It was the seat beside Aki.

As Tomo approached her seat the confrontation became inevitable. In one foul-tempered swing Aki threw her bag upon the empty chair.

She glared up at Tomo. The message was obvious.

 _You aren't welcome here._

Every eye in the class was focussed on Tomo now. Now that someone had actually acted there was a new, nastier atmosphere in the room. A predatory one. The sharks were beginning to circle.

If Tomo was intimidated by any of this she didn't show it. Without flinching, she examined the chair.

Then she turned her gaze to Aki.

Their eyes locked, and it became very clear this newcomer was big on eye contact. The stare Tomo gave was enough to make other people not involved in the contest feel uncomfortable.

With the same poisoned sweetness and light from before, Tomo asked politely.

"Could you move your bag please?"

It hadn't just been contempt in her voice that time. That had been a demand, not a question.

"Go home." Aki spat. "We don't allow animals in here."

The venom spread throughout the classroom as storm clouds began to build.

"Wow, you're a real piece of work, aren't you?" Yomi muttered. Anger tinged her every word.

There were a few jeers now. Not all of them aimed at Tomo. People were dividing into factions.

"Aki, move your bag." Chihiro demanded quietly.

There was no response.

"Aki, for the love of the Gods move your bag!" Chihiro demanded, louder this time.

It didn't work. Aki just sat there, glaring back at Tomo. This was going to be a battle of wills and neither participant was going to back down.

There was more than simple racism involved here now. Egos were on the line.

At the front of the class Chiyo suddenly stood up, an angry look on her face.

"If you don't stop this I'm going to tell a teacher!"

"Go run to mummy then!" Aki snarled. "Let the adults handle this!"

Chiyo froze, an incredulous, scandalised look on her face. She'd clearly never been talked to that way in her life. If she'd had a rude bone in her body she would have sworn back.

Behind her, Ayumu got up too, not to get help, but to move towards the situation. She'd seen enough. But then something else caught her eye.

Kagura was shaking again, and violently this time. There was liquid forming on her desk despite the absence of any water bottle. It was obvious that at some point the hostile atmosphere had got too much for her.

Ayumu moved towards her instead, quietly grabbing the attention of a short-haired classmate as she did so. There was another battle to be fought here. Slowly, both girls lowered themselves down next to the terrified Kagura. That would occupy the rest of their role in the drama.

Tomo didn't blink. She didn't even break eye contact. The smile faded, to be replaced by a dour, grim expression. She stared her classmate down, daring her to look away.

It was only after locking eyes with the bully for five full seconds that she spoke.

"What did you get on the entrance exam?"

Tomo asked this quietly, but her voice could have frozen the air around. Imperceptibly she seemed to grow in presence. The fact that she was standing up, and her opponent sitting, only added to that.

Plus, she'd been the one to put her cards on the table and ask. The onus was on Aki to respond now.

Aki shifted her eyes away for a moment. It was only a moment, but the eye contact had been broken. More authority shifted away from the bully and towards the victim.

Tomo continued to mercilessly lock eyes, not even blinking. She was waiting for her response. Call or fold, and lose all the face you foolishly bet on this childish game.

Eventually, Aki opened her mouth to answer… only to get immediately cut off.

"I'd wait for you to finally answer, but it'd be a waste of time anyway. My score was 100."

You could have heard a pencil snap.

"You cheated." Aki instantly retorted. There were once again snorts of derision.

Chihiro covered her face in frustration. Getting 100% in something as hard as the entrance exam for a prestigious Japanese High School was practically impossible. Sympathetic to Tomo as she was she had trouble believing that. Especially in an underfunded cat-only school funded by impoverished communities. Why this girl had decided to resort to blatant lies was beyond her, but it made her a lot harder to rally behind.

She was going to humiliate herself and badly. Did that make it easier for Chihiro to wash her hands of her?

Or did it make leaving her to her fate even more despicable?

She was going to humiliate herself, or so it seemed. Tomo wasn't finished. She continued without breaking eye contact.

"Funny, that's what the examiners thought too. That's why they made me sit the exam again. They watched me this time. In a room, on my own, with three human examiners."

You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.

"And what did you get?" Aki spat. It certainly wasn't going to be another 100%.

Tomo had to acknowledge that.

"97%. Not quite as impressive as the first time, but they had to accept it was well within the margins."

As the rest of the class absorbed the very plausible reality of that score Tomo flipped the question round.

"What did you get, by the way?"

It was amazing how the power dynamic had shifted. Suddenly it was Tomo who held all the power and Aki who was desperately trying to save face. Nervously, she answered.

"What's it to you anyway?"

"Got it, under 97%." Tomo taunted. "Tell me, what did you call me again? An animal?"

"Takino." Chihiro warned sternly. This was going to end in tears unless Aki got some room to breathe. She was livid, hot humiliation burning across her cheeks.

If Tomo had been just a little bit different. If she'd been a little wiser and had realised that she'd pushed her point hard enough. Maybe if she'd been a little older, or had had more guidance, she would have backed off and given her already shamed opponent some line of escape. You don't press someone who is physically turning red.

Tomo wasn't wise enough to show mercy.

"So what you're telling me is that you're dumber than a-"

 _ **Crack.**_

There was a shriek of fear, and suddenly Aki was on her feet. No one could believe how fast it had happened.

Tomo had looked away. She'd broken eye contact. But it hadn't been by choice.

The dirty red handprint upon her cheek told everyone what had happened.

Somewhere, without anyone noticing, there was the sound of a door opening and closing. Chiyo had finally gotten over her shock and gone for help.

Chihiro was of the same mind. Outrage and disbelief flowed through her. She'd seen enough. She went to say something…

Then she stopped.

Her blood ran cold with fear. The change that had come over her friend, the monster who had been her friend, was terrifying.

This couldn't be Aki. The cruel, vindictive grin on her face couldn't have belonged to anyone Chihiro would willingly associate with.

To her eternal shame Chihiro said nothing. She shrank away from a conflict that was obviously about to turn very violent. There was no way this was ending peacefully now.

This time it was Aki's turn not to break eye contact. She bore down on Tomo, her human height immediately adding to her intimidation of her diminutive opponent.

Tomo met her gaze, but the colour in her cheeks was unmistakeable. She was breathing heavily, almost as if she was crying. Yet there weren't any tears, and she continued to stare back.

What was more, her expression had completely changed. Where there should have been fear, or at least humiliation, was white hot, barely contained rage.

"So, let's go over the law shall we?" Aki snarled. "You're a cat. I'm a human. Tell me, what happens when a cat hits a human?"

"A lifetime of hard labour." Tomo replied, without a moment's hesitation. It was astounding how she managed to keep her voice steady even then. It was as if her voice and mannerisms were completely detached from her actual emotions.

The matter-of-fact way Tomo described the blatant inequalities that stood between both species stunned everyone in the room. She might have been describing the weather.

"Bingo!" Aki exclaimed, a terrifying manic cheeriness in her voice. "And what are humans allowed to do if, say, a cat insults a human?"

As she said this, she sidled inches from Tomo's face. The smile disappeared, to be replaced by a horrible, twisted glare.

Tomo didn't step back, nor did she look away.

"Why don't you show me?" she said quietly.

As Tomo said that she did win a critical victory. Whatever stunned detractors she'd had before were now silently rooting for her.

But it wasn't going to get her out of the pain. Aki had snapped. She was way too far gone to step down now. Grinning maniacally, she backed off a few paces.

"My _pleasure._ "

Aki didn't get a chance to follow through on that threat.

Instead there was another almighty crack as a fist connected directly with her eye.

The class looked on in stunned silence. Had that really just happened?

It had, and it had been a good punch too. Aki staggered back and landed on the floor in a heap.

She righted herself quickly but the impact was obvious. She was clutching her swollen eye socket.

"You'll spend the rest of your life in jail for that! Bit-"

She went silent. The insult went uncompleted.

Standing over her, visibly shaking with anger, was Yomi. Not Tomo.

"Why don't you finish that and _see what happens_?" she snarled, her fist bared, ready to strike again.

A shockwave ran through the class as they realised a full-scale fight was about to break out.

It was important to understand that these weren't delinquents. The boys and girls who sat in that classroom had studied hard to get into one of Tokyo's top high schools. You didn't get into a school named after one of the nation's founding fathers without being able to behave yourself.

If this kind of fight had broken out at their old Junior Highs it would have been the talk and shame of the school for months. Most of them were beginning to realise that. Yet because of that none of them knew how to handle the situation.

None of them knew how to de-escalate.

Aki was sprawled on the floor, completely defenceless. Yomi loomed over her, all five foot six inches towering over her downed opponent like a colossus. It was going to be a very one-sided and bloody fight.

Some of the fight seemed to have gone out of Tomo. Her face had gone beet red, worse than it had after the slap. The fierce expression was still there, but the fire had gone out of it. For once, she wasn't staring at anyone or anything in particular.

More than anything else, she looked ashamed. But ashamed of what?

Of nearly being beaten just for standing up for herself? Or from needing to be rescued?

Either way it was a sad, defeated expression that crossed Tomo's face at that moment. Only one person saw it, perhaps the only one who was still aware of their surroundings.

Chihiro felt angrier than she'd ever been in her life. It was the kind of anger that shock didn't knock out of you.

The primary conflict in the classroom, now with shifted participants, began to play out its final act.

"Get the hell off me." Aki spat.

"Say you're sorry." Yomi demanded.

" _Fuck you!"_

…

That was it. The final bit of adrenaline, cortisol and rage needed to set Yomi off. Her pupils contracted as her fist rose.

But it never came down.

Instead, Yomi seemed to freeze.

Then she began to shake… and she sprang off Aki like she was on fire.

"Oh no…" Yomi muttered. "no, no no no no…"

"Hey!" Tomo said. For the first time since the whole mess had started the catgirl actually looked alarmed. She tried to approach.

"Stay back!" Yomi commanded.

"What's going on?" Aki asked. This time, there really was fear in her eyes.

Tomo looked reluctant at first, but she soon obeyed.

She listened because she could see Yomi's entire body begin to shift.

She began to physically swell in size. There was the sound of tearing and ripping cloth as her shirt began to tear. The glasses on her eyes snapped into two pieces, and her skull began to deform, to twist into an impossibly wide, inhuman frame.

Fur began to sprout. First it covered her hands, then it spread, up her arms, up her legs, from her face and soon from every piece of skin that could be seen.

The deformations got worse. Yomi doubled over, her back arching at such an alarming angle that she had to use her arms to keep her upright. Those arms began to swell, to change, and to actually _shift from where they joined her torso._ Wicked claws sprung from her hands, and her shoes practically blew apart, to reveal two massive, canine paws.

The bridge of her nose grew out, and yet seemed to flatten down, pulling her whole face forward into a snout. There was an unpleasant popping sound as every tooth in her mouth forced its way out, to be replaced by sharpened canines. Several people screamed as the dislodged teeth dropped, still bloody, to the ground.

Then she grew.

By the time she finished she wasn't human anymore.

An enormous wolf stood in the middle of the classroom. It was bigger than any dog, in fact, it was larger than most horses. Several desks had been pulled away to make room for it, and the floorboards seemed to strain at what had to be the weight of a small rhino.

The tattered and colourful ribbons of clothing that covered it didn't make it any less terrifying. Aki, who had been more or less at ground zero, was bug-eyed with terror.

The wolf opened its eyes and cast around at the terrified occupants of the classroom. Students huddled together with fear, or frozen in place, utterly horrified.

It met every terrified gaze.

Then it gave a cry that was somewhere between a whine and a yelp. With truly frightening speed, it blitzed down the aisle and out the door, several tables flying at all angles as it did so.

Yomi was out before anyone could say she had forgotten her bag, had anyone had the presence of mind to do so. No one did.

As the dust settled, everyone slowly began to emerge from shock.

Aki recovered, but not before Chihiro did. She'd seen enough.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Chihiro demanded.

"What?"

For the first time, as her friend bore down on her, Aki looked chastened. But it was too little too late. Chihiro was on the warpath.

"You enjoy hitting people?" she began coldly. "Humiliating them in front of the class just for being who they are?"

"I was just-"

"Who the hell are you and what did you do with my friend?"

Aki's head fell to her chest in shame. She had no retort. Yet Chihiro couldn't help but twist the knife. Justice demanded it.

"You barely got the grades to get in here yourself!" she said, disgust and contempt creeping into her voice.

Aki wilted under the onslaught. It was the kind of public put-down by a friend that brooked absolutely no argument. She glared back at Chihiro but said absolutely nothing in response. Her friend's anger had finally put some shame into her.

Chihiro spoke her next words with an air of dreadful finality. To Aki, it was like an executioners axe falling.

"Yoshida," she began coldly, "we are no longer friends."

Her use of Aki's last name had been deliberate and its meaning crystal clear… even if it had shaken a little on that final pronouncement.

For a full five seconds Aki said absolutely nothing.

Then she gave her bitter, enraged reply.

"Well at _least I'm not a_ -"

The fight was cut off before it could go any further by the accursed door flying open one last time. Standing at the door was the furious visage of Yukari Tanizaki.

" _ **What the hell is going on in here?!"**_

* * *

That was the scene Yukari managed to piece together as a dozen voices fed her the full story one account at a time. It took more time than she'd wanted it to. Yukari might not have received every nuanced detail, but she'd heard enough. It was time to pass judgement.

The first decision was how to deal with Aki Yoshida.

Yukari could have expelled her. There was more than enough evidence and the expression on her face was less than repentant. She'd physically assaulted another student and threatened to follow that up with more grievous harm. Most teachers wouldn't have had time for her.

Despite this Yukari watered down her sentence.

"Miss Yoshida, you're suspended with one black mark. Get a second and you're out of here forever. Hit the bricks and come back in two weeks. I'll mail you your missed work."

Aki sat back in shock, not quite able to process what had happened. She protested her sentence weakly.

"But it's legal to-"

The look of pure fury on Yukari's face was enough to shut her up. When her teacher continued her voice was as cold as ice.

It finally occurred to Aki that it was only by the grace of the Gods that she was still her teacher.

"Well done. You've managed to identify a law that protects your cowardly assault on an innocent classmate. That's the only reason I'm not arresting you right now."

Her voice began to rise.

"However, it is my pleasure to assure you that _anyone_ who assaults another student within these grounds _or_ outside of them, regardless of race, gender or species _will be expelled on the next offence!_ "

"Do I make myself clear?"

Every head in the room nodded except one.

Tomo expression had twisted into one of outrage. She'd clearly been pushing for the death penalty.

"Why isn't she being expelled now?" She demanded.

Yukari had to take a moment to think about that one, which she masked by slowing the turn of her head towards her outraged pupil.

"Because expulsion means failure Tomo. And I don't fail."

Yukari was very careful not to lock eyes with Tomo as she said that. Tomo was clearly the kind not to let go of a confrontation.

Teaching 101: Don't get into a power struggle with your student.

The meaning sunk into Tomo immediately. Yukari considered it her personal mission to carry every single person in her class over the finish line regardless of class, species or personal baggage. While Tomo was clearly not happy about the prospect of the girl who had attacked her returning, it was an attitude she instantly respected.

She was willing to bury the hatchet.

"Alright, works for me." she agreed, as if it were suddenly nothing.

Not conceded, agreed. It was clearly an important distinction for this girl.

Some teachers would have tried to force a concession, but Yukari knew better than that. Tomo was not going to "back down". If Yukari had tried, it would just land her in a futile tug of war.

No, this was better. Tomo was the injured party and she'd agreed to the sentence. It just reinforced Yukari's own voice on the matter. She turned back to the guilty party, who was now looking distinctly shaken.

"You've got a choice Miss Yoshida. Either pull yourself together and accept your classmates or dig yourself deeper and get expelled. Either way, you won't get a second chance."

"Now get out of my classroom."

It had been a lucky and undeserved escape. Numbly, Aki Yoshida made the walk of shame down the aisle to her desk. She picked up her bag and with her head down, she slowly made her way to the door.

As she did so she gave the gaze of death to Tomo.

The glare wasn't returned for once. Tomo just stared back with carefully arranged boredom.

That battle had already been won and settled. There was no need for further confrontation. The two girls broke eye contact without further incident.

Turning away, Aki made her way past Yukari, past all of the other, worthier individuals in the room… past her friend of three years who now wouldn't even look at her… and quit the classroom.

The door closed behind her with a slam.

Right, now to business.

"First of all I'd like to say thank you." Yukari started. "For the four years I've slowly had my spirit drained by petty teenage squabbles, weak excuses and to sum up, general half-assed slacking in every first year class I've had to whip into shape. What you ladies and gentlemen were kind enough to do was take that level of dysfunctional immaturity and collective sociopathy and take it up to the level that reminds me why my job is needed."

Yukari took a moment to let that message sink in. You done goofed, kids.

"So thank you for that."

If there was anyone who still hoped to get out of this without some kind of consequence it was slipping away fast. Yukari ploughed on without mercy.

"Let's sum up. Half of the class was engaged in hazing and, let's not beat around the bush, _bullying_ another student as she entered homeroom for the very first time. The other half did absolutely nothing to stop it until it was too late to do anything. So that's already a complete and utter failure on the part of almost everyone gathered here."

Shamed silence at that. No one had any spirit to argue. Chihiro in particular slunk into the back of her chair. She could have stopped that fight at any part of its proceedings.

What was that quote about good men doing nothing? Chihiro vaguely remembered it being said by some German guy.

Yukari continued. "Meanwhile, while all of this was unfolding, a girl was having a **_panic attack_ ** on the other side of the room. And a grand total of two students even noticed it was happening."

Oh Gods… Kagura?

Chihiro looked over to where Kagura's desk was. Sure enough it was empty, as were two other desks nearby. Judging from the astounded glances of nearby students everyone else had missed it too.

If Chihiro was feeling guilty before she certainly felt a lot worse now. She'd completely failed.

She'd seen it happening. The nervous glances, the alarm in her eyes whenever the class got tenser. Judging from some soul-searching expressions on her classmates' faces she wasn't the only one who had noticed either.

There was enough collective guilt in the classroom to stain the walls. Yukari continued her lecture coldly.

"Don't worry, she's in good hands. Unlike you, Miss Kasuga and Miss Aida have working eyes and hands and took her from the classroom. However, I think there is a lesson in here somewhere."

Yukari cast her eyes over the classroom in case there was still any doubt about where the blame for the fiasco lay.

Then she dropped the bomb.

"If you want to be in this classroom there's a bar. Not just for academics, not just for effort, but for compassion, teamwork and basic common decency. And you all dropped beneath it today. So congratulations. You have the honourable distinction of being the first class to receive a detention on the first day of school."

"With the exception of Miss Mihama." Yukari added. "At least she had the decency to actually go for a teacher! Now get to your next class!"

Heads sank and bags were collected. There was no argument to be had with that.

Well, almost no argument.

As the class began the funeral march towards their first period classes, one student stubbornly didn't move. It didn't surprise Yukari, and she had the sense to wait until the last student left before addressing the lone and extremely angry young woman who had remained seated.

"Yes Miss Takino, that includes you."

Tomo glared at Yukari. How, after all that, could she be given detention?

Was this human really any different from her expectations? Tomo actually looked hurt. This wasn't just a matter of wounded pride. There was a feeling of betrayal there.

She'd backed off. She'd listened to everything her teacher said. She hadn't broken any rules and the only reason she hadn't done anything about Kagura was that she'd nearly been the victim of a lynching. So _why?_

Yukari could see the hurt confusion swirling in her student's pupis and for a second, she almost weakened. But she never gave out punishments like this for no reason and this time was no different.

Carefully locking eyes with Tomo, she braced herself for the inevitable confrontation.

"We'll talk about it later but there were a hundred and one ways you could have handled that situation better. And I think you know it too."

Tomo exploded.

"So you're saying it's _my fault_ that-"

"No, Miss Takino, I am not saying it was your fault." Yukari had to restrain a bolt of anger as she said that. "However, there are and there are not ways to respond to being threatened like that.

Yukari had to hold back the urge to give the usual verbal beat down she normally reserved for students who behaved rashly and got themselves into trouble because of their pride. Tomo's temper was already on edge, and she'd made a concession already. She was clearly ready to fight this one and Yukari had to approach the issue carefully. She could drive home the full lesson later.

"For starters, don't you think getting a teacher would have been wise?"

This time Yukari did meet Tomo's eyes, capitalising directly on the reservoir of trust she'd already built up with the girl. The two seemed somewhat like-minded and Yukari wasn't afraid to use that.

Tomo was clearly trying but she didn't have an answer for that one. She wasn't all blind rage. Anyone with that kind of emotional self-control was capable of clinically examining their actions. She could already see that an authority figure would have been useful.

Thing was she hadn't believed that at the time. She also no doubt had other doubts about her decisions- hell, faced with a situation like that who wouldn't? But she also hadn't felt like she'd had any other choice.

This was a girl who was very insecure about showing any signs of weakness. That was clear as day to Yukari. In fact, it was where she identified with her.

"I didn't think anyone would help me." Tomo muttered.

That was a half-truth. Yukari suspected that the other half of the equation was that Tomo didn't believe in asking for help. Nonetheless, she rolled with it.

"And?" She asked. "Do you still believe that now?"

Tomo snorted. Yukari sighed and rolled her head. Both broke eye contact and Tomo began the ritual for leaving class. The matter was closed.

"If anyone gives you trouble for the rest of the day, my office is right down the hall and to the right. Come find me. Oh and Miss Takino?"

Tomo glanced up from preparing her bags to leave, irritated.

"What?"

"Don't forget your meeting. 12:30, my office. Same as everyone else."

Tomo took a moment to consider that. She didn't seem like the kind of person to take student-teacher meetings very seriously. Nonetheless, she shrugged and nodded.

"It's mandatory, right? I'll be there."

"Great. I won't waste your time. Now if you'll excuse me I've got a few other things to take care of."

Yukari headed towards the door. As she reached it however, her student caught her off-guard with one final question.

"Miss Tanizaki do you really fight those monsters?"

For the first time in years a student had asked a question Yukari didn't have an answer to. For once, she deflected the issue.

"Go to class Tomo. You're already late."

With that Yukari left her to it.

Her curiosity unsated, Tomo finished packing her bags and left. She could ask about demon hunting later. It was time for some actual school work.

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the corridor, Chiyo began to wake up.

"Ooooh… what… what happened?"

Her vision began to come back into focus. Chiyo rolled onto her back. She looked up.

And the nightmare from her vision stared right back.

"Hey, c'mon kid." Yukari chided. "Sleeping in the halls is expressly forbidden."

Chiyo almost fainted again.


End file.
